


Invisible Scars

by Sermocinare



Series: Lifelines [2]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Headaches & Migraines, Hurt/Comfort, Kylo's mind reading has long term consequences, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-08
Updated: 2018-05-08
Packaged: 2019-05-03 22:26:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14578950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sermocinare/pseuds/Sermocinare
Summary: Poe suffers from the long-term effects of Kylo Ren's mind reading.





	Invisible Scars

**Author's Note:**

> Set some time after the end of "Lines in the Sand". It can be read without having read that one first, since it's pretty self-contained, but having read "Lines in the Sand" first will definitely make it more enjoyable!

“...so there I am, with this line of tiny lizards following me around as if I’m their mommy, and-”

Poe stopped mid-sentence and winced, his fingers automatically reaching up to rub his temples, eyes squeezing shut.

“Is something wrong?” Ajecraja reached out, gently touching Poe’s arm.

“Headache,” Poe muttered, blinking and shaking his head as if he could throw the pain off that way. 

“He sometimes gets those,” Hux said, laying a hand on Poe’s shoulder. “Is it bad? Do you want to go home?”

“It’ll pass". Poe looked up and gave both his husband and the Twi’lek a reassuring smile: “Where was I?”

“Lizard babies,” Ajecraja reminded him, and Poe launched back into his story.

Of course, it didn’t pass, and fifteen minutes later, Hux and Poe were taking their leave, with Hux steering his husband around the cantina’s tables by the elbow. As soon as they were out of sight, he wrapped an arm around Poe’s waist, and Poe leaned into him, letting some of his weight rest on Hux’s slender frame. 

Once they reached home, Hux led Poe right to the bedroom, sitting him down on the bed and closing the blinds before helping him out of his boots and clothes. 

“How bad is it? Do you need painkillers?”

Poe made an affirmative noise, and as Hux turned towards the door, groaned out: “And some ice cubes?”

“Coming right up, my love.”

Hux went to the bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet. They were almost out of painkillers, and he made a mental note to get some next time they were in town. Next, he took two glasses, filling one with water, the other with ice cubes, and returned to the bedroom, where Poe was lying curled up on his side. 

Hux sat down, stroking some locks of hair out of Poe’s forehead: “Here. Can you sit up?”

Poe nodded, scooting upwards until he could lean against the headboard, and quickly swallowed the painkillers before popping an ice cube into his mouth. For some reason, they were one of the few things besides medication and rest that seemed to help him when he had one of his attacks. Hux smiled, and gently ran the tips of his fingers over Poe’s forehead, which felt damp with sweat. 

After a while, the painkillers and the ice finally did their trick, and Poe curled up again, falling into a fitful sleep. Hux sighed and made himself comfortable in the armchair that stood in a corner of their bedroom. He had no idea how many times he’d sat here, watching over Poe. Poe told him every time that he didn’t need to stay, just put some more painkillers next to the bed, but Hux felt as if it was his duty to watch over his husband until Poe feelt better. Because he loved Poe, and because in a way, this was his fault.

If he had done something sooner, had gotten Poe out of there sooner, maybe this wouldn’t be happening. Ever since Ren had drilled into Poe’s mind, rifling through his thoughts and memories until he had had what he wanted, Poe had been getting these attacks. At first, Poe had told him that it was nothing, just migraines, but they had been together long enough that Hux knew when Poe was hiding something from him. It had taken some drilling of his own before Poe had finally told him what was wrong. 

They had been to a number of doctors, even a specialist General – no, it was Senator Organa now, had been for years – had recommended, but none of them had been able to find anything, or give any advice beyond painkillers and rest. The news had hit Poe quite bad, seeing how it meant that he would stay grounded for possibly the rest of his life – the risk of him getting an attack while flying was simply too high. Hux had done what he could to help Poe deal with having to quit the one thing that had defined his life ever since he had been a little boy, but it had been rough going for them for a while. 

Hux clenched his jaw. It just wasn’t fair. Poe was suffering because he hadn’t had the guts to do what he should have done sooner. If he’d intervened sooner… if he’d defected sooner… if he’d put Poe above his loyalty to the Order… if, if, if. No use in ifs. With a sigh, Hux reached for his data pad, opened an article on a new, hardier kind of Kalla plant, and began reading.

He had no idea how long he had been immersed in his reading before a croaked “hey” from the bed pulled him back to reality. Looking up, he saw that Poe had pushed himself up on his elbows and was regarding him with an exhausted smile.

“Watching over me again?”

“mhm”

“Told you you don’t need to do that.”

“I know. Don’t worry, I’ve been using the time to read something. Maybe this is a solution for our Kalla problem.”

Poe waved him to the bed, and Hux sat down next to him, putting an arm around his husband’s shoulders and letting Poe lean into him again.

Poe chuckled: “My husband the farmer.”

Hux shrugged: “It’s something to do. Besides, I like growing things. It’s a change from what I used to do,” he added with a self-deprecating smirk.

For a while, they simply sat in silence, with Hux leaning his head against Poe’s.

“You know this isn’t your fault, right?”

Hux didn’t answer, just nuzzled into Poe’s hair. Poe knew him too well. He also knew Hux too well to say anything more about the topic. 

“So, tell me about that Kalla thing...”


End file.
